Albania president sets June 23 as election date

World December 03, 2012

Albania president sets June 23 as election date

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — President Bujar Nishani has set June 23 as the date for Albania's parliamentary elections.

Some 3 million people are eligible to vote, electing 140 lawmakers for a four-year term. Elections in Albania since the fall of communism in 1990 have shown serious shortcomings, with international election monitors noting voter manipulation and problems in ballot counting.

Last summer Albanian lawmakers passed constitutional amendments on greater transparency in the selection of key electoral commission officials and introduced digital voter identity checks and computerized vote counting in the country's two largest cities.

How the next elections are conducted will be key to Albania's efforts to join the European Union. The country joined NATO in 2009. Nishani made the announcement Monday. Parliament is to formally approve the date later this week.

Subjects
People
- Bujar Nishani
Locations
- Albania,
- Eastern Europe,
- Europe
Organisations
- European Union

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